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Sep 22, 2015

Ripple Effect - The 1,000th Hat!!

Five years ago, at the end of August
2009, without much forethought or fanfare I started knitting hats. I had a goal of making 100 hats, using 100 patterns, in just one year. It felt daunting and totally out of reach to hit that goal, but by August 2010 I had finished my first 100 hats and had set a new goal. Ten thousand hats, for ten thousand people. One woman, some needles and yarn, and a mission to make the world warmer, one hat at a time.

It turns out that while making all these hats (and other knitted items for charity as well, let's be honest), I inadvertently gathered together a wealth of charity knitting knowledge - where to send items, which patterns (both free and for sale) are best for using on repeat, and more. Thanks to the amazing Heather of Ewe Ewe Yarn, I'm slowly pulling all this knowledge out. One post at a time, we're building the site MAKE | GIVE | REPEAT, creating a place for charity knitters to find patterns and places to send finished items, and hopefully also inspiring knitters who've never made something for charity to give it a try!

To celebrate these small, simple acts of kindness, and hitting a pretty big milestone on my way to 10,000, I partnered with Heather and wrote the Ripple Effect pattern. It looks complex, but it's actually just a few repeating rows that you can memorize pretty easily. And with just knit and purl stitches to contend with, this hat is perfect for a beginner knitter to dip their toes into hat making.I hope you'll knit it for yourself, for your friends and for a charity that you feel is worth of your time.

Congratulations!! You inspire me. I just finished making the Laurus hat thanks to you and now I'll cast on The Ripple Effect for my next charity hat. Thanks for the free pattern. I haven't donated 10% of what you have but I've decided to pull out all the yarn I've earmarked for charity, putting it in its own bin and start working through it, maybe a skein /month? Something that would be helpful for me on Make/Give/Repeat is being able to search by type of yarn accepted - only machine washable, only superwash wool, blends okay, feltable okay.

Wow, thanks! That will be super helpful. I think the idea of the M/G/R is wonderful. I usually wait until someone I know or follow does a charity drive then it is rush rush rush. It would be nice to work steadily throughout the year without that squeeze! Once at a charity sit n knit I chatted with a woman who only knit for charity. At the time I couldn't imagine not knitting most of my projects for me but now I understand. I craft for relaxation and the pleasure of watching fabric grow from my needles (or hook) but I don't, nor do my friends and family, need much more knitwear!

Thank you! My stash has become a burden and knitting hats for charity is the best possible way to deal with this mountain of yarn. By my estimation, hundreds of worthy people will be hatted from my inability to control myself in a yarn shop.